This invention relates to heel attaching machines and, particularly, to machines for nailing a heel onto the bottom of a shoe assembly. The machines with which the present invention is concerned include a shoe support post having a changeable nailing die supported at its upper end. The shoe assembly to which the heel is to be nailed is placed upside down, with its heel end resting on the nailing die, while the operator manually positions a heel on the shoe bottom. A heel holddown then is brought to bear downwardly on the heel, first to lightly hold the shoe and heel in proper position in readiness for the nailing operation, and then to provide a firm backup support for the heel as the nails are driven through the nailing die, upwardly through the the shoe bottom and into the heel, as guided by the nailing die. After the nailing operation, the heel holddown is withdrawn to a remote position to enable the heeled shoe to be withdrawn from the nailing die and to enable a new, unheeled shoe to be placed on the shoe jack.
Although machines of the foregoing character have been in use for many decades, they have presented some difficulties, particularly with high boots and especially with relatively stiff, high boots such as cowboy boots, riding boots or the like. Working with high boots requires use of a relatively high boot jack. However, placing a boot on or removing a boot from the long boot jack requires the boot to be raised and lowered a substantially greater height than with a conventional shoe in order to enable the boot to be placed on and taken off the boot jack. With prior heel attaching machines, the relatively large mounting and demounting movement required of boots to clear the long boot jack often requires that the boot be bent somewhat to clear the holddown. This tends to form a crease in the main portion of the boot which detracts from the appearance of the boot. Corrective operations often are required in the boot factory to remove or minimize the effect of the crease.
In accordance with the present invention, an improved arrangement is provided by which the entire holddown mechanism including the clamping elements as well as the driving elements is movable to a remote, out-of-the-way position to enable a boot to be placed on or withdrawn from the boot jack vertically and without interference from any part of the heel holddown. The present invention assures that the boot will not have to be bent or distorted when mounting or demounting, thereby avoiding the formation of unsightly creases.
More particularly, the present invention provides an arrangement for mounting the holddown actuating cylinder for movement between a normal operating position which is substantially the same as when the cylinder is rigidly attached to the machine in the presently used devices, and a raised, remote position in which the entire holddown mechanism is in an out-of-the-way location. Control means are provided to enable the holddown mechanism to be raised to the remote position, as when operating on high boots, or to maintain the holddown actuating mechanism in its normal position to operate on low shoes.
It is among the objects of the invention to provide improvements in heel nailing machines which facilitate placement and removal of a high boot in the machine without requiring undue bending or creasing of the boot during placement on and removal from the jack.
Another object of the invention is to provide improvements in heel attaching machines by which the machines may be used to nail heels onto high boots as well as low shoes.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved holddown arrangement for the heel in a heel nailing machine in which the entire holddown mechanism, including its actuating mechanism, is retractable to a remote position which will not interfere with straight removal of high boots from the boot jack.